travelin travis
New member
lot's of good tips on cable making here. here's a recap and a couple of my own for anyone getting started with soldering cables.
safety:
wear eye protection. i've been popped in the face a couple of times by hot solder. it didn't leave a mark but had it went in my eye.......
don't breathe the smoke and don't let it get in your eyes. position yourself so that your face isn't directly above the solder joint, where the smoke will go. a fan that's sucking the smoke outdoors is a big plus.
place your solder iron on a clean work space in FRONT of you with it's cables out of the path of household traffic. not on the side, on a chair, etc. it's easy to get burned or burn something like a table, carpet, etc. if you aren't careful.
if you're using one of those cheap irons, weigh the iron holder down so that it doesn't move or slide around easily. every time i've been burned was because of either one of those cheap metal ring iron holders or because the holder fell over.
cable making tips:
strip and dry fit your cables and connectors before soldering. don't forget to put those 1/4" sleeves on first. DON'T FORGET TO PUT THOSE 1/4" SLEAVES ON FIRST.
a good pair of cable strippers is very helpful. when used with care, a razor blade works just as well (probably better) but is much slower.
secure your parts before soldering. arrange the parts in a vise, clamps, vise grips, etc. so that nothing moves. this will save you a bunch of aggravation. in a pinch you can double up a rubber band on the handles of plyers to hold parts.
keep your iron tip clean and tinned at all times. the tip should look shiny and wet after tinning. i might be a little obsessive about it but i clean the tip on a damp sponge after every joint and immediately tin it before placing the iron back in it's holder. i tin the tip just before each joint too.
use clean connectors and cable. there's nothing more aggravating for a soldering newbie than trying to join dirty parts. you can heat the parts all day long and still not make a solid connection when working with dirty parts. i use alcohol and/or 0000 steel wool for cleaning parts of oily residue and oxidation. if the joint doesn't immediately go together, there's a 99% chance it's because of dirty parts. more heat won't make it work and "dirty" isn't always visible.
after clamping, dry fitting the parts and tin your connectors and the ends of wires. all wires should be twisted tight with no strays before tinning. this makes for easy, solid joints. most of the time i don't need to add much if any solder when heating the joint. position the iron tip to heat both parts at the same time. to tin a terminal or wire, heat it with the tinned iron and push the solder into the terminal or wire. don't try to transfer solder from the tip to the parts.
if you're using a low wattage iron give it time between joints to recover it's heat. 15 seconds should be plenty of time for heat recovery when using a puny iron. for larger joints it shouldn't take more than a few seconds to heat the joint for sufficient solder flow. for typical cable joints, one second should be plenty of time for heating. if the solder doesn't flow quickly when applying heat, either the parts are dirty, the iron is too small for the job (doesn't recover it's heat quickly), or the tip is too small to provide good heater transfer.
don't scratch your soldering iron tip on anything. it has a coating that must be in good condition for good heat transfer. if you keep your iron in a tool box, use something to protect the tip from scrapes and scratches. if your tip doesn't wet out, it's time for a new one. you shouldn't ever need to apply any pressure on a joint when using a hot, clean, tinned tip that's in good condition.
don't let your iron sit unused for very long while it's powered up. the heat build up will fatigue the coating on the tip. imo, 15 minutes or more is too long. it will kill a cheapie tip (radio shack and similar) in no time or at the very least, decrease it's life drastically.
soldering is an excellent skill to have. it can save you money, time, and more money. it's not difficult or particularly dangerous when using common sense and care. for the cost of a single cable you can have the bare necessities to get started: an iron, solder, sponge, razor blade or strippers, wire cutters, eye protection, and a couple of something's for clamping.
safety:
wear eye protection. i've been popped in the face a couple of times by hot solder. it didn't leave a mark but had it went in my eye.......
don't breathe the smoke and don't let it get in your eyes. position yourself so that your face isn't directly above the solder joint, where the smoke will go. a fan that's sucking the smoke outdoors is a big plus.
place your solder iron on a clean work space in FRONT of you with it's cables out of the path of household traffic. not on the side, on a chair, etc. it's easy to get burned or burn something like a table, carpet, etc. if you aren't careful.
if you're using one of those cheap irons, weigh the iron holder down so that it doesn't move or slide around easily. every time i've been burned was because of either one of those cheap metal ring iron holders or because the holder fell over.
cable making tips:
strip and dry fit your cables and connectors before soldering. don't forget to put those 1/4" sleeves on first. DON'T FORGET TO PUT THOSE 1/4" SLEAVES ON FIRST.
a good pair of cable strippers is very helpful. when used with care, a razor blade works just as well (probably better) but is much slower.
secure your parts before soldering. arrange the parts in a vise, clamps, vise grips, etc. so that nothing moves. this will save you a bunch of aggravation. in a pinch you can double up a rubber band on the handles of plyers to hold parts.
keep your iron tip clean and tinned at all times. the tip should look shiny and wet after tinning. i might be a little obsessive about it but i clean the tip on a damp sponge after every joint and immediately tin it before placing the iron back in it's holder. i tin the tip just before each joint too.
use clean connectors and cable. there's nothing more aggravating for a soldering newbie than trying to join dirty parts. you can heat the parts all day long and still not make a solid connection when working with dirty parts. i use alcohol and/or 0000 steel wool for cleaning parts of oily residue and oxidation. if the joint doesn't immediately go together, there's a 99% chance it's because of dirty parts. more heat won't make it work and "dirty" isn't always visible.
after clamping, dry fitting the parts and tin your connectors and the ends of wires. all wires should be twisted tight with no strays before tinning. this makes for easy, solid joints. most of the time i don't need to add much if any solder when heating the joint. position the iron tip to heat both parts at the same time. to tin a terminal or wire, heat it with the tinned iron and push the solder into the terminal or wire. don't try to transfer solder from the tip to the parts.
if you're using a low wattage iron give it time between joints to recover it's heat. 15 seconds should be plenty of time for heat recovery when using a puny iron. for larger joints it shouldn't take more than a few seconds to heat the joint for sufficient solder flow. for typical cable joints, one second should be plenty of time for heating. if the solder doesn't flow quickly when applying heat, either the parts are dirty, the iron is too small for the job (doesn't recover it's heat quickly), or the tip is too small to provide good heater transfer.
don't scratch your soldering iron tip on anything. it has a coating that must be in good condition for good heat transfer. if you keep your iron in a tool box, use something to protect the tip from scrapes and scratches. if your tip doesn't wet out, it's time for a new one. you shouldn't ever need to apply any pressure on a joint when using a hot, clean, tinned tip that's in good condition.
don't let your iron sit unused for very long while it's powered up. the heat build up will fatigue the coating on the tip. imo, 15 minutes or more is too long. it will kill a cheapie tip (radio shack and similar) in no time or at the very least, decrease it's life drastically.
soldering is an excellent skill to have. it can save you money, time, and more money. it's not difficult or particularly dangerous when using common sense and care. for the cost of a single cable you can have the bare necessities to get started: an iron, solder, sponge, razor blade or strippers, wire cutters, eye protection, and a couple of something's for clamping.
After that, I dunno, a solder bath, probably 
